Gramophone Recordings of Early 20th Century Tatar Music: Singer and Accordionist Mirfaiz Babazhanov
Abstract
Abstract. On the basis of documental materials and memoir sources, this article examines the
activities of singer and accordionist Mirfaiz Babazhanov. Known among the people as Troitsky
Mirfayza, he has left a distinctive legacy in the sphere of early 20th century Tatar music. The author
brings into scholarly use for the first time and analyzes the performer’s gramophone recording
repertoire presented by recordings made by the “Syrena Rekord” company and discs made by the
“Pathé” company.
An evaluation is given of the genre-related particularities of the repertoire (the Tatar plangent
lyrical song, the swift urban songs, the bait), of the inimitable original performance manner of the
singer-accordionist, and the particularity of his singing voice (countertenor). The author examines
the songs and instrumental tunes of other peoples with Turkic languages: Bashkirs, Kazakhs and
Uzbeks, available in Babazhanov’s gramophone repertoire. Babazhanov’s artistic legacy, which
became a prominent feature of the early 20th century Tatars urban musical culture, continues to
arouse great interest among listeners at the present time, as well.
Keywords: gramophone recordings of Tatar music, Mirfaiz Babazhanov, singer-accordionist,
countertenor, gramophone record, “Pathé” discs, “Syrena Rekord,” Tatar song
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33779/2782-3598.2021.4.107-115
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